


The Last Dragon

by ArxMaverick



Category: Original Work
Genre: Daddy Issues, F/F, F/M, Fantasy, Funny Duo, Kingdoms, Magic, Princess - Freeform, Romance, dragon - Freeform, relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-07
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:28:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23045560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArxMaverick/pseuds/ArxMaverick
Summary: The world of Aeternia had never known such peace and prosperity in centuries. For eons now, mankind had been thriving at its peak. But that was not meant to last forever. Amidst darker events, an unlikely encounter between two misfits of opposing classes leads to a journey that none of them had expected but could very well save their world - or ultimately bring forth utter chaos. Axell, a hunted dragon, only considered the kidnapping and ransoming of Airedale's princess a formality. However, as it would turn out, this would only be the catalyst to a bigger plot than he could've imagined.As a mysterious figure looms from the depths of the lost continent of Armagh, will Aeternia be able to survive the perils that lay ahead?





	1. C1

Kidnap a princess, they said. It will be fun, they said. Whoever invented the notion of fun certainly couldn't have accounted for how incredibly annoying kidnapping Lydia, the princess of the Airedale kingdom, would prove to be. Typically, based on the stories he heard coupled with his limited experience in the field, most princesses would desperately struggle in an attempt to free themselves from his grasp. The weaker ones, which were his favorites to hear about, would collapse on sight and proceed to sleep on for hours. Now those princesses he felt were fun to abduct, it was all quiet on the way and their families would rush to pay up anything asked of them. But this one proved to behave on a completely different scale than what Axell was used to.

The red flags basically jumped in his face from the second he introduced himself to her. Quite frankly, her reaction had puzzled and froze him in place for a second. If you entered someone's room and locked the door behind you, that alone should be enough to instill fear in their hearts. But add to this the fact that Axell unveiled his true nature to her, via flashing his fiery red eyes and growing a large pair of scaly and pointy wings while retaining humanoid form, pure terror should've struck her to the core. Instead of that, the silver haired royal just casually looked him in the eye as she spoke. "Could you perhaps give me a minute to pack a few things?" There was a glimpse of excitement mixed with a shadow of surprise painted on her face. 

But the fierce man just stood there, unable to figure out his next words. So many things were wrong with her question that he couldn't even begin to formulate an answer. It all made no sense, what kind of person asks their soon-to-be captor this kind of question? Fumbling with his words, Axell straightened himself. "Well yes, I allow it." But she already had gone ahead and was rummaging through her closet, almost like his answer wouldn't have changed a thing to her plans anyway. 

Now that he had the chance to analyze her from up close, there was simply no denying that she was vastly different from the other princesses he had encountered so far. Her hair, though carefully brushed, was not done in any extravagant manner as a simple ponytail kept her silver strands together. What struck him more however was her dressing style. You'd expect a princess to enjoy the extra perks that came with her rank and go all out to fill in their wardrobe but that was not Lydia's case. In fact, you could even describe her as plain in that department. The clothes that she wore mostly suited active young men as her closet was overflowing with leather pants and padded shirts that did a good job at hiding her curves.  
"Oh, by the way, I have an idea to get us out of here unnoticed in case you need it." She said as she peeked her head out to have a look at him. Now enough was enough for the old dragon, things needed to be set straight. 

Drawing his longsword from the sheath on his left hip, Axell looked at her menacingly. "Do you not realize that I'm trying to kidnap you here? Now hurry along before I change m-" But the girl didn't allow him the pleasure of finishing his sentence as she ran up to him to examine his sword, as if it were a shiny piece of jewelry that had drawn her attention.   
"Oh wow, that's definitely not regular steel there. What is it made of?" She observed a quick pause before continuing, pointing to his sheath that was considerably smaller than the sword it was meant to hold. "And how the hell does it fit in there?" It was proving to be quite hard to threaten someone who was too fascinated by you to find you scary. This went against the fact that most people found him to be intimidating without even trying. After all, Axell was a bit on the tall and bulky side. That was without mentioning the fact that smiles weren't particular his forte. Coupled with the fact that she couldn't see his face nor his ebony skin, both hidden under the heavy set of armor customary to royal guards, the princess should actually be frightened. He was basically a winged stranger who could snap her in half even though she was no dainty flower herself. If that wasn't enough, what else could be?

"Are you even listening? I mean I'm in half draconic form and threatening you with a sword here." 

"Oh yes, that reminds me of something I've been meaning to ask since you got here. Can you fly with those wings? Because I've always wanted to fly, it must be so nice!" 

By now, she was questioningly poking at his wings. A sigh escaped his mouth as he internally admitted defeat. It was just impossible to scare her into submission at this point in time. "Can't we just go back to the part where I'm kidnapping you? You know, the part where you're scared and you have to do what I ask? I'll answer your questions after."

Reluctantly, she nodded and agreed. "But you'll have to follow my lead, I don't want anyone getting killed today. That's my only condition." What kind of person even set conditions to have themselves captured? He should've known there'd be a catch somewhere. Gathering information and sneaking into the castle went too damn smoothly to not have a huge catch waiting to slap him right in the face. Mumbling a muffled 'Fine', he sat down on the edge of her comfortable bed to listen to her plan as best as he could while battling the temptation to just take a nap on the soft material. Dragons were known to love their sleep and Axell particularly loved to sleep his problems away. There were very few things a ten years long nap couldn't defeat, as he had come to realize over the ages.

As she finished exposing her plans, and filling her black bag that bulged against her waist, the young man -or old dragon, up to interpretation- retracted his wings and tilted his head to one side. "I haven't done that in a while but shouldn't I be the one guiding you away? You're a victim, remember?" Her hand softly tapped his shoulder pad. "Sure thing, friend. Now cover your back  
and off we go!" Handing him a used brown cloth to hang over the two holes on the back of his armor, she then headed straight towards the door. A very dumbfounded guard of Her Royal Princess followed her to the door which he proceeded to unlock. 

From this point on, Axell followed her lead as she held onto his arm. No one seemed to find that the least bit strange, neither the actual guards nor the many servants they encountered paid more than a second glance towards them. Apparently, the princess was known to be a very cheerful and outgoing person who got along with everyone. Maybe smiling often had some perks but he definitely wouldn't admit that out loud. Their cover up would be that he was merely accompanying her to feed animals at the lake, something that she did very often. And it actually worked, to his utmost surprise. This was certainly turning out to be the easiest yet weirdest abduction in history. It did beat his initial idea of destroying part of the castle and flying away with her in his claws. The lesser the effort, the better it was!

But something was bound to go off at some point because since when could he just catch a break? And it wasn't any simple complication either. The head of the royal guard himself happened to stumble upon them. So much for using the less crowded pathways, he thought as he glanced over to Lydia. You could easily distinguish him from a basic soldier with a simple glance at his armor. The polish and attention to detail was amongst the finest in the human kingdoms. It struck Axell as odd that someone would use such expensive equipment to merely make rounds in a castle. Unless you were expecting heavy fighting against skilled opponents, it was simply overkill. A mere armor like the one the dragon actually donned would've done the trick but no, a highly ranked official had to stand out with an intricate piece of armor. Poor guy must undoubtedly be feeling exhausted and sweating like a pig under those layers of metal. But, as people demonstrated these days, looking cool was much more important than being practical.

The General seemed to look surprised. Well, it was true that his face couldn't be seen but surprise was apparent in the slight gestures of his reaction. There was a faint 'Oh you're there' escaping the General's lips in the form of quiet muttering. Then they stared each other down, both sides unwilling to take the first step away from the other. While it made sense for Axell and the princess to be standing still, devising the best course of action, it was weird to have General Huxley so undecided. This was supposed to be a man of high strategic intellect and bravery, being in doubt couldn't possibly be a trait in his character. Unless that very man had already figured him and his intentions out, maybe his mind was already at work on a plot to get the princess safely out of harm's way. That could be the only reason for his behavior, nothing else made more sense than that. Feeling foolish to have believed they could simply escape without being seen, Axell started to remove his hand from Lydia's grasp. No human could best him in a contest of reflexes and he was confident about his ability to swiftly cut down on flesh despite the heavy armor.

But then it hit him. Everything hit him all at once. Oh god, the unbelievably horrific stench that emanated from the General's armor. The urge to run away in defeat sprung onto him as it turned out no human could best his sense of smell either. How could one person generate this amount of power? Lydia was next to take in the nightmarish odor and her facial expression quickly gave it away. Thankfully, that was the General's cue to make a move. "Well..." he started, clearing his throat out. "Keep up the good work soldier and hmm, protect the princess with your life." No matter how mighty one man might be, diarrhea was still an insurmountable enemy that had them at a loss for words. As suddenly as he appeared, the General was gone down the luxurious halls adorned by antique torches and painting. To be able to walk this fast despite his burdened state, Axell could only have respect for the man.

That minor hurdle aside, the lack of questioning continued to the stables where they would try to acquire the two steeds necessary to their journey. As expected of the establishment tasked with providing horses for the high society, beautiful specimen were everywhere to be found. You couldn't even smell or see a trace of horse dumping, which was no small feat when you knew how dirty the animal was. Everything was polished to be shiny and aesthetically pleasing, from the beautiful oak wood that made up the various enclosures to the dangling chandeliers that provided light with their scented candles. Undoubtedly, the upkeep of this place certainly matched that of the horses. Speaking of which, they were definitely much more alluring than Axell would've appreciated. Indeed differences could be observed between various breeds. Some horses were bred simply to look superior through their bigger stature yet they lacked the speed and stamina of a common horse. It was truly a shame that showing off had become such a staple of society. Everyday spent roaming the cities of men, sights of people trying so hard to impress their peers plagued his eyes. It was as if they had never learned that the only approval that they truly needed was their own. You could spend your life trying to please others that they would still find a way to criticize and bring you down.  
"Hey, choose your horse already. We can't stay too long here before they get suspicious."

Snapping out of his thoughts, Axell realized that she was already on her horse, bags laid on each side. Looking at her posture, you could tell she knew how to actually ride and not just parade like most princesses did. It felt refreshing to think that maybe they weren't all useless damsels in distress crying in high towers like he had heard. But it was still unsettling to see how easily Lydia had come to terms with the situation at hand. "Hm, yeah, I'm picking this one." His right index was pointing towards the nearest horse, a large one coated with the most beautiful brown hair he had seen on a living being. 

Looking at him, her expression was dumbfounded. "Are you seriously choosing the one closest to you?" 

"Do not judge me." Too late, she already was right in the middle of just that." My whole life has been guided with random, impulsive decisions and I'm still breathing so I must be doing something right."

That was just the laziest excuse someone had ever used to justify their questionable decisions but, deep down, Lydia knew that there were just no arguing with this logic whatsoever. The "sure, why not?" mentality had also gotten her this far and, although there definitely had been some hurdles along the way, she couldn't complain too much about it. It was not everyday that a dragon came to whisk you away from your boring home and towards the discovery of exciting new worlds. Or at least, that was how Lydia had decided to view the whole situation. Sometimes even the dangers of the unknown sounded better than the four walls of your home, if you could still think of it as such.

So, with a simple shrug, she was giving him her answer. "That's actually a very fair point, I'll give you that." 

With the matter closed and their horses all set and headed towards the outside of the vast capital, the improbable duo finally allowed themselves the gift of relaxation. Now that they were off to their merry way and scrolling through the city, bothered by nothing else than the odd waving of its inhabitants, there wasn't anything that could possibly go wrong. At least, it could not be worse for Axell than the earlier situation. Surely, she would not prove as worse a companion as her first impression led him to believe.

"Oh I forgot to pack underwear, do you happen to have any in your home? Now that I mention it, where do you live? Is it a cave, a dungeon or a huge domain? You owe me some answers now!" With just a few words, Lydia managed to crush all his remaining hope of a quiet travel. The disguised guard sighed once again, mentally preparing himself for the huge task ahead. Turns out that not all princesses out there were fun to kidnap.


	2. C2

"Wait, you mean you don't actually sleep on the gold?" 

The urge to bring his palm to his face was now stronger than ever. What did they teach those kids in school anyway? It appeared as if humans truly believed any other creature than themselves to be plain stupid.

"No, that's just incredibly painful. We actually have beds too, you know?"

Yet he still found himself answering her questions, despite the fact that she seemingly had no limits to her imagination. It actually proved to be a rather entertaining activity if he were to be honest with himself. He did not actually find her to be as annoying as his tone would suggest. In fact, to this moment, Axell was still questioning whether he had actually just kidnapped the princess. Because they really did not seem to share an abductor/captive relationship judging by the way they were casually discussing while riding their horses which, of course, she had decided to name. Thus Axell found himself riding Brownie while Whitie carried the princess on his back. Say what you want about the princess, she surely had a knack for coming up with original and creative names that absolutely were not based on the horses' hair colors.

Aside from that, this ride could qualify as a rather enjoyable one for most. The scenery was particularly beautiful, though not on par with Avonwick's natural wonders. The sun was already starting to lower and the air smelled strongly of wet leaves, a remnant of yesterday's rains. Thankfully, very few mosquitoes could be heard flying. Most of the sounds came from birds chirping accompanied by the rhythmic clopping of their horses' hooves. One could actually be easily forgiven for mistaking this moment as romantic. It even came as a surprise that this pathway was not frequented. 

Now that the atmosphere was much calmer, Axell found himself observing the princess more. Surely enough, she was somewhat the opposite of the other princesses, that he had met, in terms of style but it would be a lie to claim Lydia was not beautiful. Simplicity oozed out of every pore of her being, a stark contrast to the extravaganza Axell was used to when it came to people of rank. Usually those with considerable coin made it their life goal to show other people they had considerable means. Besides that, she seemed to be active, hard-working and strong-willed. Not once did she ever behave as if she were a slave nor did she seem to be scared of him in any manner. It was evident that she was fierce, in her own way, confident and a go-getter. Undeniably, all those qualities made for a pretty attractive girl. Especially since they reminded him of somebody who used to occupy a large place in his heart.

"So we're not going to live in a cave?"

Still, there was no denying her ability to easily get on his nerves. It was an unseen before record, unfortunately for him. But at least it wasn't the kind of annoyance where you wanted to slap the person just because they committed the atrocious crime of drawing breath in your presence. Still her questions could not shake off the one thing that has been on his mind all day long. And now was as good a time as ever to get his answer. After all, Axell had been indulging her for a long while. "Why did you come with me? Really?"

That question was long coming and Lydia knew it. The guy wasn't dumb enough to believe that she went along with the situation this easily just for the sake of adventures. In truth, someone with her status didn't need a fantastic creature to kidnap her to have fun. Since he had tolerated her for so long, it was really a miracle that he hadn't genuinely snapped by now, Lydia owed to him to at least be honest. "To piss off my father, pretty much." In hindsight, it probably seemed ridiculous to embark on a dangerous outing with someone you absolutely did not know just to get at your father. "I know it doesn't make any sense to you but he and I don't really get along well. At all."

"Say no more." That sort of behavior was actually not a novelty to him. "A prominent scholar once wrote about the subject. Her book was named  _ 'Daddy Issues' _ if memory serves me right. I urge you to read it."

Her first reaction was to laugh loudly. It was one of those times when something was simply too funny and you immediately shelled out that one ugly laughing face, the one where you're too overwhelmed by joy to actually care about looking pretty during your fit. But Axell was still at a loss for why the young princess was tearing up with laughter. Lydia took a few seconds to straighten herself enough to compose a decent response. "I'm just picturing you in dragon form with little reading glasses, intensely holding a book about girls' father issues."

Chuckles left his mouth before they turned into full laughter. Even if it was far from reality, that image was a rather hilarious one. "You forgot to add a little cup of tea that I'll grab with my claws and sip on." With that, they both burst into careless laughter at each other's silliness. It was truly astounding how easily you could get along with someone even though you've just "kidnapped" them and they've spent all those hours trying to get on your nerves. Here they were, an unlikely duo actually having fun together. "You're annoying, weird and ridiculous. I like you." Axell told her as their horses approached the body of water near them to freshen up.

"Does that mean you agree to have multiple kids and live happily ever after with me?"

"You're gonna make me regret I ever said that, won't you?"

***

Sure enough, the rest of their journey continued in the vein of its beginning, even though the questions were slowly receding. You could only spend so many hours thinking of things to ask someone after all. Before they had realized it, the sun had surrendered its throne to constellations of stars that lit up the skies. It truly was a marvelous and calming sight that Lydia loved to immerse herself in. She would feel warm and at peace, like nothing else had ever made her feel since her mother's embrace. It wasn't cloudy tonight so the possibilities of it raining were rather thin though you could never be fully prepared for Aeternia's weather. For example, a few years back, it was particularly fickle with torrential amounts of rain one day and a scorching heat the next. Magicians had lost many nights trying to explain this particular phenomenon, she recalled, yet none had ever managed to come up with anything substantial. This proved to her that this world, and its inhabitants, still had so many secrets that not even the Archmage could hope to decrypt. 

Glancing over to her silent companion, Lydia was reminded that he was one of those particular secrets. It was quite difficult to put the pieces of the puzzle that was Axell together. What kind of person was he truly like? Spending some hours with him had already shattered so many stereotypes about his people. He was neither dumb nor extremely violent and, contrary to what his relatively carefree nature suggested, thought things through before making significant decisions. In fact, it was almost like the man riding besides was as human as she were. Having already had many reasons to harm her, it was obvious that it was not something he was interested into for the time being. This was part of the reason why she had came this easily with him. Not a single time had it seemed like the dragon genuinely wanted to lash out at her, despite having more than enough power to take her away and burning half the kingdom in the process. Besides, what was up with his human appearance? Never had she heard about dragons taking on a fully human form. Guess stereotypes weren't the ultimate truth about someone's character after all. Those had always seemed stupid to her, who were they to force traits on groups of people they didn't even know? 

"That's as far as the horses are taking us, we'll be stopping here."

What did he mean by stopping here? They were in the middle of the campaign with the next village a good hour away. Shooting him a puzzled look, Lydia was about to question his decision when he raised his index finger to silence her. "We'll be flying the rest of the way, it's dark and far out enough to not risk attracting attention. And honestly, I can't be arsed to ride a horse for days when I have a quicker method."

But, unbeknownst to Axell, she had actually stopped listening after he had uttered the word  _ flying. _ Sparks were glistening in her eyes like they would in a little kid's who has been promised their favorite toy. Most of her mornings had been spent gazing at the skies and envying the many birds capable of freely roaming this earth. So often Lydia had wished to be one of them, peacefully chirping about. And now this chance was finally offered to her even though she was but a young girl who could neither grow wings nor sing happily under the sun. 

She watched him undergo his earlier transformation and was reminded how fascinating it was that dragons could adopt human form. This made her question just what kind of creatures were walking this world while humans just lived blissfully unaware. "So I'll wrap my hands around your waist, alright?" But, once more, Lydia was way ahead of him with the large pouch carrying her belongings tightly secured on her back. There was no doubt that she was looking forward to this much more than he was. And that certainly meant something. It had actually been a while since Axell last took flight since there hadn't been any reasons justifying taking that risk. But only now was he realizing that he missed flying, it was just so peaceful up there at night with the stars. 

He approached Lydia and tightly wrapped his arms around her midsection her with her pouch the only thing separating their bodies. For someone who had spent most of the day riding a horse, she did smell quite good. And their height difference wasn't actually quite pronounced, probably a couple of inches only. Flapping his wings a couple of times, creating a little gust of dust, Axell slowly took to the skies. Feeling her grip tighten as they were lifted from the ground, the dragon gently whispered to Lydia. "You're safe, it's all okay." It must indeed be debilitating for the young princess, who's obviously never flown before, to just see herself rising from the ground with her life entrusted to someone she had just met. Despite how they were behaving around one another and the circumstances of their meeting, they were still strangers after all. Nonetheless, Lydia willingly surrendered her safety to him and that meant a lot. Interspecies relationships just weren't like they used to be so it certainly meant a lot to have her believe in him despite all the horrible things that had been said about dragons.

"I absolutely love it." Her speaking made him aware that she had considerably calmed down. At this point, the stars seemed closer to them than the ground. Even though it had rained the night before, the skies were thankfully not very cloudy. This made easier to enjoy the sight at the expense of cover from prying eyes. At least tonight they would be relatively occupied. The full moon shone brightly, illuminating the various life beneath them. Full moons usually meant that people stayed indoors, sharing scary tales to younger ones or drinking themselves to slumber. But Axell believed in being cautious over being caught so he sought to reach the highest possible altitude, each flap of his horned wings seemingly bringing them closer to the stars. "Yes, it's the most beautiful sight. Nothing could be more peaceful."

And, in this moment, Axell truly did feel at peace and in communion with another. They were just two people roaming the skies, united by their common love of it. No differences stood between them at all. Lydia did not appear as a  _ human  _ woman to him but just a woman with no care for him being a dragon who loved random abductions and the quietness of the stars. As she sighed contentedly, he felt accepted as a simple living being. Not once did she flinch or sport a look of disgust at him, which was an extremely rare occurrence. Axell smiled at the continued brushing of the wind against his skin and the remembrance of  _ her.  _

_ 'Maybe you were right after all, Meera darling.' _


End file.
